Rule 1 For Giants: Stay Out Of Trouble

Fassel Stresses Work, Not Play

TAMPA — To think the Giants left New York and traveled to Tampa on Sunday to have a fun week doesn't make a lot of sense, but coach Jim Fassel set curfews anyway and warned of temptations that wouldn't shock and shouldn't attract any New Yorker.

Fassel told his team: "If you guys want to have a great time at the Super Bowl, go when we're not playing, because we're coming down here to work."

The Baltimore Ravens arrive Monday for Sunday's Super Bowl XXXV.

The Giants have a 1:30 a.m. curfew until Tuesday, 12:30 a.m. until Saturday, and 11 p.m. the night before the game.

Two Dallas Stars hockey players were arrested in Tampa two weeks ago for violating an ordinance barring strip-club customers from getting within six feet of dancers.

"I think everybody realizes we're not here for the parties, not here for appearances, we're not here for a quick buck; we're here to win the game," said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

Last year, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, whose team was not in the game, was a presence at Super Bowl week activities in Atlanta. Lewis wound up facing double-murder charges when two men were stabbed to death in a fight after the game. Lewis eventually entered a guilty plea to misdemeanor obstruction of justice.

Two years ago, before playing against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was arrested the night before the game on charges of soliciting sex from an undercover cop in Miami.

Staying off the streets doesn't guarantee peace and quiet. In 1988, Cincinnati Bengals fullback Stanley Wilson got so high on drugs in his hotel room the night before Super Bowl XXIII against San Francisco that he was unable to play and was suspended.

"I've covered everything with them," Fassel said. "I've talked about all the ordinances, all the stuff that's gone on. I even told them the names of places that are targeted."

The Giants seemed to be buying into the business-trip mind-set last week, when defensive tackle Keith Hamilton announced at a news conference, "If anybody gets out of line. . . . This is a precious moment and ain't no one person going to [mess] that up for everybody else."

Happy and they know it: Teams that are just happy to be in Super Bowls usually don't win them. Well, the Baltimore Ravens are happy and don't really take issue with those who call their Super Bowl appearance unexpected.

"I'm surprised we're in this football game too," said quarterback Trent Dilfer, laughing. "I'd agree with them. I've always been from the [Baltimore coach] Brian Billick school, that you have to have explosive offense to get here. But I fit the profile of this team and we've been able to accomplish a lot of things. To try to explain it would be impossible, though."

Sure signs: New York guard Glenn Parker was a member of all four Buffalo Bills teams that lost Super Bowls beginning with the one 10 years ago to the Giants. Teammates have queried him on what to expect during Super Bowl week.

"A lot of the young guys ask what kind of functions will we be going to and I tell them, `It's not a bowl game,'" Parker said. "You're not going to a college bowl game. You have nothing other than your media sessions."

Those media sessions, which began in earnest Sunday, let players know this game is different, even for people from New York.

"When some guy comes up to them and starts speaking in Spanish or Korean or Chinese, then it hits you," Parker said. "You're on a world stage."

Not quite a guarantee: Giants tackle Lomas Brown stopped just short of guaranteeing a Super Bowl victory when he and his teammates arrived, greeted by a modest crowd at the airport.

"That's the way to do it, sneak in and sneak out," said Brown, a 16-year veteran appearing in his first Super Bowl. "If we win--let me change that to when we win--they will be waiting in full force for us."

A real kick: Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead kicked the back of defensive end Strahan's seat when the plane touched down in Tampa and said, "Do you believe we're at the Super Bowl?"

The Giants (14-4) finished last season 7-9 and out of the playoffs.

"I think everybody is excited," Strahan said. "I think we had more video cameras in the locker room and on the plane than we have here filming us now.

"Guys want to remember this because this is going to be a memory that lasts a lifetime. It may be the only time we get to do this."

Big deal: Peter Boulware is no stranger to big, even history-making games. The Baltimore linebacker was a standout pass rusher at Florida State where he played for national championships in two of his four years. But even though he hasn't been there yet, he insists there is nothing like a Super Bowl.

"Playing for the national championship was good preparation," Boulware said. "But this is what you grow up playing football for. . . . This is a world championship we're talking about here."